


I Need To Make It To The River

by YouPromisedMePie



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-03-15
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2018-10-05 12:06:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10307147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/YouPromisedMePie/pseuds/YouPromisedMePie
Summary: When Sam Winchester was a baby, his mother Mary was murdered and her husband John quickly became the prime suspect. In his Kansas hometown, always the outcast, John was falsely accused of his wife's death, so he took his son and fled town, living a life on the road...until now. It's summer time and John decides to stay with one of his old Marine buddies and mechanic, Bobby Singer. Sam's life changes when he meets the handsome green-eyed boy who works there.





	1. Introduction

 

John Winchester had moved to Lawrence, Kansas with his mother when he was just seven years old. The whole town mocked him, treating him as if there was something wrong with him since he didn’t have a father to raise him, and his mother was working all the time to support him. He became the town outcast and was never accepted with his mother as his only ally.

When he was seventeen, John lied about his age and joined the Marines to get himself out of Lawrence because he couldn’t stand to be in a town where he was such an outcast any longer.

Three years later, twenty year old John left the military and returned to Lawrence. His mother had married a car salesman and moved out of his childhood home. John, not fond of the idea of living with his mother and her new husband, found himself a small house on the edge of town. Upon his homecoming, he met the prettiest girl he’d ever seen. Her family had moved to town about two years ago and the whole town loved the Campbells. When John took a liking to their daughter Mary, the town was outraged; he was the town outcast, and she was the sweet new girl in town, but Mary liked John. She was able to look past all the rumors and lies that most had come to accept as truth about him, and they quickly became good friends.

John fell in love with Mary, and eventually she came to love him back. A year and a half after they had first met, John and Mary got married and nine months later, their son Samuel was born.

When Sam was only six months old, Mary was found, drowned in the river. Everyone in town blamed John because he was her husband, and because of his reputation.

An innocent John took baby Sammy and fled town never looking back and never staying in one town for very long. He was always trying to figure out who could have killed his Mary. They were on the road constantly, staying in motels and hostels, usually spending no more than a week in one town before moving on to the next.

When Sam is sixteen, he and John go to stay in Sioux Falls, South Dakota with one of John’s old friends from his Marine days.

Bobby Singer owns a car shop and salvage yard and Sam soon finds himself infatuated with the beautiful, green-eyed young man that works there.


	2. Singer’s Auto Salvage – Sioux Falls, South Dakota

The Impala purred as John pulled into the gravel lot outside the old house. It was surrounded by old models of cars, all in various states of repairs, others just piles of parts. The sign over the driveway said Singer’s Auto Salvage, but Sam hadn’t really been expecting there to be quite so many cars.

He knew that his dad’s friend, Bobby, fixed cars and sold parts to garages and stuff, but the only experience Sam had with mechanics was watching John open up the hood of the Impala and fix things, or the couple of times he hadn’t been able to fix it and they’d gone to a local garage. But none of them had the amount of stuff that Bobby did, nor did they specialize in classic cars like Bobby clearly seemed to.

Once they parked, Sam drug himself out of the car, grabbing his duffel bag and heading toward the house. He looked around the lot, taking in his new surroundings, spotting a guy working on a car several yards away. He looked to be a few years older than Sam and he was wearing a dirty white t-shirt that showed off toned, suntanned biceps. The guy had coveralls that had been pulled down and the sleeves tied around his waist, and he was sweating and covered in oil and grease, and Sam was staring.

“C’mon Sammy” John called from the front porch, waiting for his son to go inside. He noticed where his son had been looking and he figured maybe it was time to have a talk with him.

Sam’s trance was broken and he turned his attention back to his father, hoisting his bag back on his shoulder and trudging to the front stoop, gravel crunching under his boots as he walked. He took the steps two at a time up to the porch, stealing one last curious glance at the guy before stepping over the threshold into Bobby’s house.

Sam smiled politely as he was introduced to Bobby, shaking the man’s hand. He was older than Sam had pictured him, and a bit gruff, but he had a kind smile and Sam decided that he liked him.

“Alright, John…I’ve got two rooms set up for you two upstairs” Bobby explained, motioning for them to follow him as he started the ascent up the creaky staircase.  The house had clearly been really nice, once upon a time. Once-beautiful wallpaper lined the rooms and there were slightly-askew picture frames hanging in the stairwell with faded photographs. Sam looked at one of them as he passed; it was of a pretty blond woman and a guy who looked like he could be a younger version of Bobby. The couple was smiling, arms around each other.

They reached the top of the steps and Bobby led them halfway down the hall, pointing to two doors that were open just a crack. “This room here’s yours, kiddo” Bobby told him with a smile, pushing one of the doors open. It was a nice enough room, much homier than the motels Sam was used to staying in when they were on the road constantly. There were nice sheets on the bed, and instead of the heavy, scratchy motel blankets, there was a soft blue quilt draped over the end of the bed.

“I’ll let you get settled while your daddy and I catch up for a bit, alright?” he told Sam, giving him a nod before disappearing from the doorway and leaving Sam in the room alone.

Sam sat his bag on the bed and walked around the decent sized room. Sam had never had his own room before. He and his dad had always shared a motel room with two twin or double beds, or bunked together in a few hostels.

He ran his hand along the top of the small dresser, looking at himself in the mirror and straightening his hair that was a bit messy from sleeping in the car.

There was a small window with plain white curtains that was letting in enough sunlight to light up the whole room. Sam wondered what his view was like. He walked over to the window, pulling back the curtains and he froze slightly when he realized that his window looked out right at the spot where the guy was still working on the car outside. The guy stood up straight and wiped his sweaty forehead with his arm, wiping his hands off with a rag that had been hanging in his pocket. Sam could have sworn that he looked right up at him, and Sam immediately dropped the curtain, letting it fall shut and stepping away.

He tried not to think about the sweaty guy outside or why he was so intrigued by him, and he directed his focus to putting the few clothes he owned in the top drawers of the empty dresser. It only took hime a few minutes, and once he was done, he pulled his tattered copy of the only book he owned out of the bottom of his duffel bag and sat on the bed, leaning back against the headboard and opening to the page he’d left off on.

Sam could hear muffled voices downstairs talking, and laughing every once and a while. He heard the door and there were greetings, then the fall of heavy boots on the stairs and the sound of the water in the shower down the hall turning on, as his father’s and Bobby’s voices resumed their conversation downstairs.

The sweaty boy from outside was inside now, and he was in the shower right down the hall from where Sam was. Did he live here? Or did Bobby just let him shower before going home from work? Bobby seemed nice like that, to let the guy shower so he didn’t have to drive home all sweaty and grimy.

Sam had never really been interested in anyone sexually or romantically before, or maybe he’d just never thought about it. He hadn’t ever had time to get to know anyone or make friends, much less think about relationships. Therefore, he hadn’t even thought about whether he was interested in girls, or boys, or anyone. The opportunity had never arisen. Did he like guys? Was that what he was feeling now? He’d always assumed he would have a girlfriend one day because John had always asked him about girls and what girls he liked. He thought girls were pretty, sure…but he’d never given much thought to whether he really liked them, because he’d never really known any past the initial meeting.

Reading was out of the question since he wasn’t able to concentrate and had read the same sentence at least four times already. Sam shut his book, setting it on the nightstand beside the bed, and got up. He descended the stairs, finding Bobby and his dad at the kitchen table, drinking beers and still talking. The men looked up as he entered the room and Bobby asked him if the room was alright.

Sam smiled kindly at the man. “It’s great…thank you, it’s nicer than the last motel we were in” he answered, giving an apologetic smile to John. He knew his dad did as well as he could to provide everything Sam needed.

“Bobby and I were talking about going out to the diner in a while for dinner” John told Sam, who nodded.

“Sounds good, I’m starving” Sam admitted, his stomach letting out a quiet gurgle for effect.

“Geez, when’s the last time you fed the boy, John?” Bobby asked his friend.

“Breakfast this morning and then some burgers on the road. I’m telling you Bobby, the kid’s like a bottomless pit. I guess that’s just a sixteen year old boy for ya, right Sammy?” he laughed.

Sam just rolled his eyes, taking a seat in one of the empty chairs at the table. He just sat and listened to the two men talk about cars and the Marines, noticing the water turning off and then a few minutes later, more footsteps on the stairs.

The guy from outside walked into the kitchen, or at least Sam thought it must be him. He was clean now, no more grease and grime, no more sweat. His hair was still damp and was a bit spiked in the front, shorter and cropped in the back. He wore a pair of clean blue jeans, his dirty white t-shirt had been replaced with a clean grey one, and a soft, worn blue and grey flannel hung perfectly on his broad, muscular shoulders. Sam dared to look up at the young man’s face; he had freckles sprinkled across his nose and cheeks, and his eyes were the most beautiful shade of green, and he was smiling effortlessly.

“Sam, John…this is Dean. He works on the cars for me, now that I’m gettin old I can’t do it all by myself anymore” Bobby teased.

“Nice to meet you, Dean” John greeted the guy, shaking his hand politely. Dean shook John’s hand, telling him the same, and complimenting him on the Impala.

“She’s a beauty” Dean smiled wider. “When I saw you drive up in her, I was sad to find you were just visiting…was hoping I’d get to work on her, but she looks perfect.”

John nodded, thanking him for the compliment. Sam stole another glance at Dean and noticed he’d turned his attention to him. “It was Sam, right?” He flashed that gorgeous smile again, holding out his hand. “I’m Dean.”

Sam smiled a bit awkwardly, feeling like his face was on fire. He shook Dean’s outstretched hand, nodding. “Yeah, I’m Sam…it’s uh, nice to meet you.”

“Yeah, you too. So, you know about cars? Your dad’s probably taught you a lot right?” he asked curiously, maybe a little naturally flirtatious.

“I’ve taught him a few things, but he’s not that interested. Always got his head stuck in a book”,  John interjected.

“Yeah, he’s right…” Sam conceded. “I mean, I appreciate cars, just…the insides and all that isn’t my thing really” Sam admitted, definitely blushing a bit this time.

Dean shook his head, still smiling softly. “That’s alright, to each their own right? I’ve never been great with books”,  he shrugged.

“So Dean, you like working here for Bobby?” John piped in, and Bobby pulled out the other free chair for Dean to sit with them. Sam just watched and listened, not interested in talking about cars, but not wanting to leave the room and go back upstairs by himself.

“Yes sir!” Dean answered enthusiastically, glancing over at Sam before turning back to John. “It’s a pretty good setup, I get to work on cars every day and then I’ve got a roof over my head” he explained to John. “My parents wanted me to go to college, but I barely made it through high school. I thought about joining the Marines like my dad, but Mom wouldn’t have any of it” he chuckled, shaking his head.

John perked up even more at the mention of the Marines, just like he did anytime he met anyone who mentioned the Marines. “Who’s your dad, if you don’t mind my asking” John leans in a bit closer to Dean.

“This here’s Bill’s boy, John” Bobby answered for him, clapping Dean on the shoulder.

“So you’re Bill’s Dean? He always said you were a good kid…your daddy’s quite the guy, kid” John sipped his beer, shaking his head in amusement.

Sam kept expecting them to invite Dean to come to dinner with them, and he wasn’t sure whether he wanted them to or not. John looked like he was ready to adopt Dean as his own son and throw Sam off to someone else. Dean was the perfect kid for John, he was everything Sam wasn’t; he loved cars, classic rock, his dad was one of John’s Marine buddies and Dean had thought about joining himself.

Luckily, before Sam had to decide whether he would be excited or humiliated if Dean was invited to dinner, he politely excused himself, telling the group that he had plans, flashing Sam that bright smile before grabbing his keys off the hook by the door and heading out. Sam heard a car roar to life outside and pull out of the gravel lot.

So sweaty car guy’s name was Dean. He lived in the house that they were now staying in. And Sam wanted to know more.

 

 

 


	3. Getting To Know You

Bobby had told Dean that a friend and his teenage son were coming to stay for a while. He thought he’d been prepared, maybe he could show the kid around, maybe tell him what was fun to do in Sioux Falls…and then mostly just leave him alone, unless he wanted to help work on the cars. He hadn’t been expecting Sam.

Sam was everything Dean wasn’t: bookish and quiet, grew up on the road with just his dad so he probably didn’t have many friends, and not much of a ‘family home life’. But none of that was what interested him most about the kid. No, when Dean walked into that kitchen and saw his new housemate sitting at the table, the first thing he noticed was that Sam was beautiful.

He had soft, longish, shaggy brown hair that fell in his face sometimes. And he had the most interesting eyes Dean had ever seen.

Dean had never been shy about his sexuality, nor was he ever very quick to define it. He was definitely primarily interested in girls, but he’d never stopped himself from noticing and appreciating when a guy was attractive. He’d even kissed a couple, though it had never gone much past that. But as naïve as Sam seemed upon first meeting him, Dean had a feeling he’d never had many experiences with kissing or anything else, girls or otherwise.

Dean was definitely intrigued by this pretty boy that had become his roommate of sorts for the time being, and he wanted to know more.

 **OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**  
 

The next day, Sam was up early and heard someone moving around in the kitchen before going outside. He got up and looked out his window to see Dean out in the lot, gathering tools and opening up the hood of a car, starting to work.

He got up and dressed in his old, worn Led Zeppelin t-shirt that was a hand-me-down from John, checking his hair in the mirror, and going outside after making sure that his dad’s car was gone, Bobby had left a note that he was in town buying parts.

Sam approached Dean, making sure to make enough noise he’d hear him coming, not wanting to startle him. Dean straightened up and turned to Sam, wiping his hand on a rag, and flashing that gorgeous smile. “Mornin’ ” he greeted Sam, looking so effortlessly cool and masculine. “Nice shirt” he smiled approvingly, casually looking Sam up and down.

Sam smiled softly in return, wanting it to seem like he was just bored. “Good morning” he replied. “I felt like getting out and enjoying the sun. Last week we were in Seattle” he explained glumly.

Dean nodded. “I’ve never been, but I’ve heard it rains all the time, right?” Dean wondered what the kid was really doing out here. If he didn’t care that much about cars, what was a sixteen year old doing up and about this early on a Saturday morning?

Sam nodded in agreement with a frown.  “ _All_ the time, I don’t think there was a single day all week that it didn’t rain.” He thought for a second, leaving an awkward pause hanging in the air. He looked around, peering over at the open hood of the car that Dean had just started working on before he’d interrupted. “How do you know what everything is? It all just looks like a big jumble of tubes and stuff”, he asked curiously, confused by the jumbled mess he saw under the hoods of cars. How did this make sense to people enough that they would jam tools and their hands in here, hoping to fix something rather than break it?

Dean chuckled, amused at Sam’s confusion. “You want me to show you a few things? Once you know what you’re looking at it’s really not as confusing as it looks.”

Sam thought about it for a second, not really all that interested in the car’s inner workings, figuring that if he ever had his own car and needed it fixed, he’d ask his dad or take it to a garage and let them get in there. But if he said yes, it meant he had an excuse to stay out here with Dean, and he was realizing that he really wanted an excuse to stay out here with Dean.

Sam shrugged. “Sure…I guess it could be cool.” He answered, trying to keep his voice neutral.

Dean smiled. “Alright, awesome!” he responded enthusiastically, stepping back over to the car and motioning for Sam to come stand beside him. “So, that big thing there in the middle…” he pointed. “That’s the engine, which obviously you know what that does.”

Dean glanced to Sam for reassurance, and he nodded, smiling humorously.  “Yes, I know what the engine is.”

“Okay good. Now, that big one right there that’s attached to the engine. That’s your transmission. Essentially, it takes the power from your engine and transfers it to the driveshaft and the wheels”, he glanced over at Sam again, making sure that he was following what he was saying.

Sam nodded again, staring at the parts. “Transmission transmits power, got it.”

“Right. If your transmission goes bad, you’re screwed…your car won’t run”, he stops, setting down his wrench and turning his whole body toward Sam. “Are you sure you’re not bored?...” he asked, genuinely wanting to know the truth. “If you’re bored we can stop, you can go back to enjoying the sun or whatever”, he smirked, teasing him a bit but he wasn’t going to force him to sit here and listen to him go on about car parts if he was dying of disinterest.

Sam shook his head, finding that he wasn’t as bored as he initially thought he would be, and who knew…maybe this stuff could be important one day. Plus, Dean did such a good job of explaining things, and Sam liked the way his tanned bicep flexed when he pointed to the different parts.

“No, I’m not bored…I promise. What’s next?”

Dean looked him over, making sure that he wasn’t just lying to be nice, but he seemed like he really was at least marginally interested so he smiled, turning back to face the car.

“Okay, here, front and center of the car, is the radiator. The radiator cools the engine, keeping it from overheating and burning up.”

Sam thought he could use a radiator right about now. Dean was so effortlessly cool and Sam was feeling all kinds of things he didn’t really know how to explain or identify. He had zoned out for what he thought were just a few seconds, but must have been quite a bit longer because he was pulled out of his daze by Dean’s voice saying his name.

“Huh?” Sam grunted, coming back to reality and focusing on Dean looking at him. “Sorry, did I miss something?” he asked, giving Dean an apologetic look.

“I asked you if you’ve ever driven before”, he repeated.

Sam took a second to absorb his words, shaking his head. “Oh, no…I haven’t. I mean, I haven’t really had time for classes since we move around all the time, and I don’t think my dad wants me driving his baby”, he rolled his eyes.

Dean nods in understanding. “Well you’re sixteen, right? Time you learn how to drive…doesn’t really help to know about cars if you can’t get behind the wheel of one, right?” he smiled, giving him an encouraging nudge.

Sam smiled kindly, sure he was blushing slightly. No one else had ever seemed like they cared about him learning to drive. John had never really mentioned it or acted like it was important, and he’d never had the opportunity to seek it out for himself because they never stayed in one place.

Dean showed him a few more things before he could tell that Sam was starting to lose interest, and he was behind on his work for the day, having a couple more cars he needed to get to after he finished this one.

“I’m gonna go take a walk around, maybe go read some. I can make lunch in a few hours if that’s cool. I’m not exactly a gourmet chef, but I’ve mastered the sandwich pretty well”, he smiled, a bit jokingly.

Dean chuckled, nodding. “Sure, yeah lunch sounds good.” Dean flashed him one last signature smile before Sam turned and walked off back toward the house.

Sam went back inside, and after drinking an entire pot of coffee by himself, he decided to go upstairs and read. An hour later, he had finished reading his only book for what felt like the hundredth time, and, left with nothing else interesting to do had decided to explore the house a little. After all, this was his home for the time being, right? Bobby had told him to make himself at home. Plus, it was still an hour or so until Dean would probably be ready for lunch.

He got up from his bed and shuffled out into the hall, listening to make sure no one was inside, not sure why since he wasn’t doing anything bad.

Sam looked in his dad’s room first, nothing exciting. A double bed with a quilt, just like his, though it was a deep hunter green instead of blue. John’s familiar, tattered military-issued duffel bag was tossed on a chair in the corner, his toothbrush and razor were laid on top of the dresser, and his leather jacket was hanging on the post at the foot of the bed. Sam gave up, finding the same old things he’d seen a million times.

He went back out into the hall and looked back and forth, deciding which way to go. To his right was Bobby’s room, a closet, and then the stairs. To his left, past his room and the bathroom, he could see a door slightly cracked open. Dean’s room.

Sam debated whether to go. It was a violation of Dean’s privacy, and he’d just met him. He had to live with him and didn’t really want to piss him off on day one. But the temptation was too strong. He told himself he would just look. It wasn’t too bad if he didn’t touch anything, right?

Sam walked carefully down the hall, trying to keep the floorboards from creaking too much. He slowly pushed the door open, just enough that he could slip through.

The room was much different than his and John’s. Not in the way it was laid out, or the furniture, but you could tell it was lived in. It was exactly what Sam would have pictured if he’d imagined what Dean’s room looked like. Well, it was cleaner.

There were a couple old band posters on the walls. Led Zeppelin, Metallica, AC/DC, bands he’d grown up listening to on the road with his dad. There were a couple dirty t-shirts tossed in a corner, a pair of worn Converse peeking out from under the foot of the bed. Dark grey sheets were made up but still rumpled on the bed, a thick blanket half falling on the floor instead of a quilt. On a small table under the window was a record player and a crate full of albums sat on the floor beside it.

Sam walked around a bit, noticing more details, a few issues of Popular Mechanic on the nightstand.

The top of the dresser was mostly bare aside from a set of keys, a bottle of cologne, and an old beat up Walkman with headphones wrapped around it.

Tucked into the edge of the mirror was a slightly faded photo of a man and woman that looked maybe a little older than his father, Dean, and a pretty blonde girl that looked to be between his age and the age he’d guessed Dean to be.

Sam was too focused on his snooping to notice the front door opening, or the footsteps on the stairs.

“Find anything good?” Sam jumped, turning to see Dean smirking, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed casually over his chest.

Sam felt his face turn bright red and he stumbled over his words. “I-I was j-just…I mean I…” he stuttered, trying to come up with a good excuse but he could think of nothing.

Dean stood up straight, stepping into the room, still smirking slightly at the embarrassed Sam that was still frozen in place.

“Snooping? Going through my stuff? Got lost on the way to the bathroom?” He joked, not seeming too mad that Sam was in there. Maybe more amused than anything.

“No. No, I was just…” he couldn’t really think of a logical excuse for being in Dean’s bedroom, and he was still giving him that challenging little smirk. Sam sighed. “Okay, yeah I guess I was snooping a little. But I promise I didn’t touch _anything_. I was just bored” he tacked that onto the end in a lame attempt to try to make it seem less creepy.

“Oh it’s fine, I don’t have anything to hide. Though I think this means you owe me one…or I owe you a nice little look through _your_ room” he smirked.

Sam shrugged. “You’re welcome to look around, but I don’t really have a lot” he was still so embarrassed, his cheeks still held a bit of a pink flush, but he tried to play it off like he didn’t care.

“Then I guess I’ll just have to think of another way to pay you back” he teased. “So how about that lunch you were talking about earlier? It’s getting pretty hot out there in the sun, and I’m starving” He smiled, an actual smile now rather than a smirk, and Sam melted.

He nodded, still blushing slightly. “Sure, lunch it is” he scooted past Dean and out into the hall, heading toward the stairs, not looking back to see if Dean was following.

 

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

 

Bobby returned from town a little after lunch time, and he and Dean had been outside working since.

Sam had refrained from doing anymore exploring upstairs, but he had taken an interest in Bobby’s bookshelves that lined his study. The door had been wide open, so Sam hadn’t figured it was exactly a private area, but he made sure not to touch anything. He just scanned all the titles of the old books that lined the shelves. A lot of them were war books, and car-related like auto manuals, car part indexes, etc. But there were some that Sam recognized as well, classics.

Once he’d looked through all the shelves, he went back out into the kitchen, trying to decide what to do next.  His Dad would probably be gone up until dinner time, Dean and Bobby were busy working, and he didn’t have a license to drive himself anywhere. He was stuck.

Sam ventured back outside, spotting Bobby and Dean working on a car a pretty good way away from him. He walked down a row of cars, coming to an old sixties pickup. It was a nice day out, and he enjoyed the soft sounds of nature, and Dean and Bobby’s voices in the distance. There was a blanket rolled up in the front seat that he took out and spread across the truck bed, lying down on his back and looking up at the sky.

Sam zoned out after a bit, just lying there and watching the clouds roll by. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been there, but eventually he heard Bobby’s gruff voice calling out his name and he sat up.

“There you are. Almost gave an old man a heart attack, boy. Dean said you were in your room but we looked around the house and you’re nowhere to be found”, Bobby scolded.

Sam smiled sheepishly. “Sorry Bobby, I just got bored inside and came out here, must’ve lost track of time.”

“Well, c’mon inside. Your daddy called an’ said he’s on his way. Dinner’s almost ready” Bobby motioned for him to come inside, and he realized that the sun was starting to go down. He slid out of the truck bed and walked back toward the house, giving Bobby an apologetic look as he reached the front door.

Inside, Dean was setting the table and stirring something on the stove. He’d obviously showered, and he had changed into and old band t-shirt.

Sam grabbed the silverware that had been set out on the counter and started setting it around the plates that Dean had just laid out on the table, trying to make himself useful.

“Oh, hey thanks”, Dean thanked him as he added some spices to one of the pots.

“No problem”, Sam replied softly. “So, what’s for dinner? Smells amazing.”

Dean smiled proudly to himself.  “Oh, just a pasta dish my mom taught me how to make before I moved away. It’s one of only about three things I can cook successfully without the use of a microwave”, he laughed a bit awkwardly.

“Well, like I told you earlier, I’ve mastered the sandwich”, Sam chuckled. “Oh, and I can order really well off a Chinese take-out menu”, he smiled playfully at Dean.

Dean laughed out loud. “You’re funny, kid”, he smiled.

On some level, Sam found the humor in his jokes, but part of him was jealous. He wished that he had a mom, like Dean. Someone to teach him how to cook, and to drive. Someone to be there whenever he needed. Sure, he had his dad, but John was too hung up on his mother’s death to be around enough when he really needed it.

Sam smiled sheepishly. “Thanks.”

There was a rumble outside as the Impala pulled into the gravel lot, it stopped and they heard a car door shut and Sam’s smile fell slightly.

“Alright boys, John’s here”, Bobby announced, stepping back from the living room window. He grabbed his bottle of bourbon, pouring some for himself and John.

“Perfect timing, it’s ready”, Dean replied, turning off the stove, putting lids on the pots so it would stay hot.

 

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Dinner was fairly uneventful, John not telling much about his day, as usual, and everyone just making small talk about what had happened that day, or stuff about cars. Sam just sat mostly in silence and ate his dinner, complimenting Dean on how good it was.

After dinner, John and Bobby retired to Bobby’s study for drinks.

Dean had thought about going out with some friends, or meeting up at a buddy’s place, but that would mean that Sam was left alone again.

Sam stayed in the kitchen, helping Dean clean up the dishes, clearing the table and loading the dishwasher while Dean cleaned the pots and pans.

“So, Sam…what do you like to do for fun?” Dean asked, genuinely curious but also trying to make small talk to fill the silence.

Sam shrugged. He could honestly say he’d never been asked the question before, and he wasn’t totally sure how to answer. “I mean…I read. Sometimes I go on walks around the motel parking lots…” he answered lamely, mentally kicking himself immediately after the words came out of his mouth. It sounded stupid. He didn’t really do that many fun things, he guessed.

Sam scratched the back of his head awkwardly, falling silent again, turning his attention back to the dishes.

Dean frowned, he wanted to turn to Sam and ask him if he was serious. But he could tell that the kid was clearly uncomfortable, and he knew not to push it. “Well, do you like movies? They’re probably going to be in there for a while and I don’t have anywhere to be. I’ve got a collection of a few good ones”, he offered, wanting Sam to feel at home.

Sam smiled softly at Dean, he could tell what he was doing, trying to make him feel better. “It’s okay, you don’t have to entertain me or anything…but yeah, um, I like movies”, Sam answered quietly.

“Alright, then it’s settled, tonight is a movie night”, Dean smiled brightly. “You wanna pop some popcorn and I’ll go grab the movies?” he headed off toward the stairs, leaving Sam alone in the kitchen.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

 

A couple hours later, Sam had fallen asleep on the couch in the middle of their second movie of the night, hand still resting in the giant popcorn bowl. Dean smiled in amusement, but figured he must be exhausted. He clicked off the tv, pulled the bowl away, setting it on the coffee table and covering Sam with a blanket. Something about the way his shaggy hair hung over his eyes as he slept, Dean had the overwhelming urge to lean down and kiss him, but he stopped, standing up and heading upstairs to bed even thought it was still fairly early.

He’d had more fun just watching movies with Sam than if he’d gone out with his friends, and he smiled to himself as he climbed the stairs.


	4. A Day with Dean

The next morning.

Sam woke up on the couch, not remembering how he’d gotten there at first, but once he roused a bit more he remembered watching movies with Dean. He also remembered wanting to reach over the couch cushion that separated them and touch Dean’s leg, or his arm. What was going on with him?

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

Once everyone was up and moving around, John decided to take everyone out to breakfast at the diner.

“So, what did you boys get up to yesterday?” John asked as a general question to both Dean and Sam, but Sam felt his cheeks flush pink and he stayed silent, continuing to eat, just staring down at his plate.

Dean gave him a look before turning to John. “Well I got quite a bit of work done, showed Sam here a few things under the hood”, he shrugged.

Sam was grateful that he hadn’t mentioned anything else that had happened the day before, like his suspicious activities upstairs, and how he’d been caught snooping around in Dean’s room.

John raised his eyebrows, looking at Sam. “Oh really? Any time I’ve tried to teach you anything about cars you just sigh and whine that you’re bored.”

“I do not” he blushed softly, worried that his Dad would start asking questions about why he was more interested when Dean was showing him.

“Well, I didn’t keep him to bore him too long, let him off pretty easy”, Dean teased, trying to lighten the mood, sensing that Sam was feeling uncomfortable.

Once the subject was safely steered away from the previous day’s events and anything to do with Sam and Dean, Sam relaxed enough to finish his breakfast in silence. Most of the conversation from that point on was between Bobby and John, Dean keeping fairly quiet as well. Every once and a while, he and Sam would make eye contact and roll their eyes at something that was said, or just share a look.

Sam still couldn’t quite put a finger on why he was so drawn to Dean, why he was so interested in knowing the guy…but the pull was definitely still there.

After breakfast, on the ride home, Bobby suggested that Dean show Sam around town, after all it was Sunday and none of them had anything better to do.

They got back and John and Bobby headed on inside, Dean hung back to talk to Sam.

“Look, we don’t have to if you don’t want to…I know Bobby means well and he doesn’t want you to be bored, but if you don’t want to hang out with me or have me drag you around town or whatever, I’ll understand”, Dean told Sam.

Sam smiled shyly. “It’s okay, I uh, I think it could be fun…right?”, he raised his eyebrows at Dean questioningly. Dean was the one that lived here, the one who knew what there was to do in town. Sam wouldn’t admit that he wanted to spend the day hanging out with Dean more than he wanted to do anything else like hanging around the house again all day.

Dean chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, it can be. Alright, if you’re really up for it, then let’s go. I just need to go change and grab my keys.” Dean headed inside, Sam following a minute later.

Bobby and John had already made plans to go to a car show a few towns over, so they would be gone for several hours.

Sam changed into his nicest pair of jeans and a grey v-neck t-shirt, figuring he wanted to be comfortable but didn’t want to look like a mess. Why was he trying so hard to impress Dean?

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

First, Dean just casually drove Sam through town, rock music playing from the stereo but soft enough that they could talk. They didn’t exactly have any kind of deep heart-to-heart, but they chatted some more about music and movies and stuff, just getting to know each other a little bit better.

He finally stopped in the middle of downtown, parking in a small lot and waiting for Sam to get out.

Dean leads Sam through the streets of downtown, showing him some of the cities landmark tourist traps before landing at a cute little café/diner on a quiet street corner. “I know you like coffee…this is one of the best coffee shops I’ve ever been to” Dean explained, pulling open the door and gesturing for Sam to go inside.

Sam gives him a glance, making sure he was serious before stepping inside, immediately welcomed by the smell of roasting coffee. They order their drinks at the counter and then go sit down, finding a nice table by the window and Sam sips his cappuccino. “Wow, this is really good” he admits, giving Dean a small smile. He sees Dean sitting there across from him at the table and his heart skips, Sam finds himself wishing that this were a date…but it’s not. God what was wrong with him lately?

Dean chuckles. “Told you. So, what do you think of Sioux Falls so far? I know it’s nothing too big or anything, but it’s a nice town. Good people here…”

Sam nods. “It’s nice. It feels like a place that could be someone’s home…” he says a bit lost in his thoughts. He’d never had a real home, not that he remembered. And he could easily see himself living here, especially with Dean around.

**OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO**

After coffee, Dean showed him around some more, walking around downtown. They looked at shops and things, Dean telling him a few stories of nights and other fun times he’d had with his friends around town.

Once it started getting dark, Dean figured it was time to head back home for dinner and before Bobby and John got worried.

“You boys have a fun day?” John asked as they both came inside. He and Bobby had decided on some take out for dinner which Bobby was out picking up.

“Yes sir” Sam answered quietly, not offering up much more detail than that in response. He didn’t want to tell his dad about his day with Dean…it was there time and for some reason he wanted to keep it private, it felt special.

Dinner was uneventful, another meal of Sam avoiding talking much and Bobby and John telling Dean all about the cars they’d seen at the show, a couple they’d even gotten to take for a spin around the lot.

Sam excused himself when he was finished eating and went up to his room, turning in early.


End file.
